Can Hosting Companies Ignore DMCA?

Please visit our Terms of Service for our DMCA policy. If inconsistency rises between this article and our terms of service, the terms of service will supersede.

The DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyrights Act) put in place a series of copyright laws effective in both the United States as well as the World International Property Organization.

As the DMCA can be challenging to interpret and is often exploited to bring down legitimate websites, we have included a short explanation about copyright laws relevant to the hosting world and a brief review of Maple Hosting’s policies on this matter.

The Problem With DMCA & Copyright Complaints

Tens of thousands of abuse complaints are sent to hosting companies around the world every day.

It can be challenging to determine which copyright complaints describe actual illegal activities and which complaints are fake.

Fake complaints are submitted to try and exploit hosting providers that do not have the backbone to stand up and protect their customers. These fake DMCA complaints work by reporting legitimate content as one that violates copyright laws or trademark laws.

This can be used by competitors and attackers to bring down legitimate content and in some cases, whole websites.

And while this may come as a shock, thousands of fake DMCA complaints are sent every day!

What’s DMCA ignored hosting?

DMCA ignored hosting has been increasing in popularity as it can provide peace of mind to those who wish to host legitimate content but are continuously forced to remove it by their hosting provider, because someone, somewhere – demanded it.

There is no standard when it comes to the term “DMCA Ignored Hosting”. It means different things to different people and organizations.

Recently, content creation websites such as Twitch have been receiving thousands of DMCA takedowns for copyright violations.

As you may expect, Twitch and similar companies tend to react quite dramatically to these complaints. In October 2020, for example, Twitch forced streamers to delete thousands of old VODs, with no good tools to determine which files were problematic.

All of this to say that the challenge of determining which complaints are valid and which are fake is not just limited to hosting providers, but is actually an issue that affects many companies and individuals all over the world.

Can companies ignore DMCA complaints?

Any hosting company that promises to ignore any and all DMCA complaints is an incredibly risky bet for you and your business. Ignoring all copyright complaints is illegal. Our recommendation is to stay clear from any such hosting companies.

A company that states it ignores abuse complaints altogether is acting illegally and placing your business or websites in the hands of such a company is incredibly risky.

If these “companies” are okay with breaking one law, what’s stopping them from breaking another and, for example, steal your money?

That being said, there are things that hosts can do to protect your rights as their customer, especially against the large quantity of misuse that comes with the DMCA laws and other copyright complaints.

When a copyright owner’s work is being infringed on or through a service provider’s service, the copyright owner may send a notification of claimed infringement. In this context, the devil is in the details.

As per the DMCA law, For takedown notices to be legally effective, they must be provided to a service provider’s designated agent in writing and include the following:

• » physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
• » Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site.
• » Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material.
• » Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted.
• » A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
• » A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

As you can see, there are quite a few requirements in order to make a DMCA complaint valid. Many of the mentioned fake DMCA complaints will often lack many of these required elements.

The majority of hosts will not even care enough to go the extra mile for you and your business to actually review the complaint and ensure it contains the requirements set out by the DMCA law.

We at Maple-Hosting work hard to ensure that DMCA complaints are submitted in full accordance with the law.

Illegitimate use of the DMCA

Maple-Hosting proudly protects our customers from the illegitimate use of copyrights and DMCA complaints by ensuring that all complaints are submitted in full accordance with the law.

Illegitimate use of the DMCA includes submission of copyright reports for content which does not violate any copyrights or submitting complaints that do not provide sufficient proof.

This happens far more often than you might think and the majority of hosting sites will throw you under the bus in fear as soon as any complaint is received.

It is not uncommon for individuals or groups to attempt to strong-arm a hosting provider to suspend customers, even before a valid written abuse complaint is submitted. Instead, when faced with this pressure, we stand up for your rights and demand that the complaint will be handled with accordance to the law and what it requires.

What does this mean for you?
Maple-Hosting has been offering hosting services since 2008 and during that time we’ve learned that sticking to the requirements of the law helps to stop individuals from submitting invalid or fake complaints.

With this policy, we act as a safeguard and provide hosting you can rely on.

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Not sure which plan is right for you? Contact us – we love to help. 🙂

What if a valid complaint is received?

You might be asking yourself, ‘what happens if Maple Hosting does receive a valid copyright complaint?’. Great question!

We are not a ‘suspend first, ask questions later’ hosting provider unless the circumstances of the abuse case force us to take immediate action. Such circumstances are very rare.

Rather, when we get a valid complaint, we contact you directly and give you the chance to submit a counter-claim as per the requirements of the law.

Is this what your business needs?

Simply put, it is rare to find a hosting company that will have your back in fighting rampant abuse of DMCA laws.

Here at Maple Hosting, we believe in the integrity of copyright law and will abide by it.

While we will never support copyright violations in any way, we will help safeguard you against individuals attempting to abuse copyright law.

Far more common than you might think and a proven technique for destroying competitive websites on other hosting sites, we refuse to give in to these idle threats and breaches of the law.

While every legitimate copyright complaint will be handled in a manner fair to both parties, we will not automatically assume your guilt and cut off the hosting of your site.

Sounds good? Matches your business needs? Check out our Netherlands Dedicated Server Hosting today!

Maple-Hosting is a privately owned hosting company that has been offering Netherlands Dedicated Servers to partners around the world for over 12 years. We focus on providing an exceptional hosting experience that allows our customers to focus on their businesses.

Disclaimer: The information in this blog post (“post”) is provided for general informational purposes only. No information contained in this post should be construed as legal advice, nor is it intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter. No reader of this post should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information included in, or accessible through, this post without seeking the appropriate legal or other professional advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue from a lawyer licensed in the recipient’s state, country or other appropriate licensing jurisdiction.